The Pi Shop

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
822021256
IRS 990 coverage
2017–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Fresno, CA, USA
Phone
5594815004
Rating
61
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Chambers of Commerce & Business Leagues

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$30,525
Expenses
$70,365
Assets
$59,695
Liabilities
$2,154

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

1 person listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK A JACKSON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

People named in this filing

  • MARK A JACKSON (CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The pi shop's mission is to provide an atmosphere for collaboration, mentorship, instruction, knowledge, innovation and support for a new technology, manufacturing or product-oriented business ventures.

What it reported doing in 2024

The university of California, merced provided funding through a "proof-of-concept grant" as specifically authorized in California state senate bill no. 2664 to establish a product development center. The funding obtained through this grant gives the pi shop (the product development center) members unmatched access to technical, professional and financial networks, including on-location equipment and support staff that rivals the sorts of facilities that are normally totally out of reach for early and seed-staged innovators. The focus of the pi shop is to be an incubator of product ideas which have the potential to create individually successful businesses that can engender employment, a growing tax base and other vital social and economic impacts benefiting the California central valley.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 100% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 97% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 18
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 0

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 70%; rating input score 70
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: Limited
  • Governance controls: 3 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 43
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -130.5%; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.85; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.04; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -12.7% per year; rating input score 0; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -22.3% per year; rating input score 0; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -23.6% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 70% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $49K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 1 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 22 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2017 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Moderate — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 17/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.